Allow -me to introduce myself. I’m ShareBuilders’ newest pricing consultant, but before that, I was a broadcast sales manager with over 30 years in the business. I’ve done almost everything you can do on the sales side, from research to local/national sales to local/national sales management. From broadcast to cable and back to broadcast. I used to think I was pretty good at what I did (and I think I was), but there were certain things that used to keep me up at night as a manager. Questions like: how can I create a well-thought-out budget and market for the following year? How do I know if our share is suffering or doing ok within the quarter? Is my forecast in the ballpark? Do we have enough inventory to get to goal, and what can I do to maximize share without sacrificing rate integrity so I can hit my budget and share?

The broadcast industry has been steadily moving toward using impressions as a measurement metric over the past couple of years, but it’s not doing so without some growing pains. Ratings are hard to let go of- they’ve been used as the default standard for decades. It’s only natural that broadcast sales staff are overwhelmed and struggling to adapt to the new systems. When you’re suddenly asked to change something so fundamental to the way that you’ve been working your entire career, it’s hard to shift gears. We at ShareBuilders have felt some of the same trepidation in trying to adapt to this new normal, so we thought we’d share some of the things we’ve learned along the way. 

Creating rate cards can be one of the most tedious, time consuming tasks a broadcast sales manager faces. When you’re literally dealing in time, it’s critical to strike a balance between getting fair rates for your advertising and not letting itexpire. It can be a significant challenge to set aside the time necessary to really focus and get it right. Unfortunately, few executives in such demanding roles have that kind of time to spare. As a result, rate cards are often not optimized, leaving dollars on the table. 

World Radio Day is coming up, and we are excited about it. What is World Radio Day, you ask? Why, it’s a day to celebrate the world’s most powerful and ubiquitous medium for disseminating information and entertainment. UNESCO proclaimed February 13 World Radio Day in 2011, and it was later adopted by the UN General Assembly as an International Day in 2012. With radio being so ingrained in our daily lives, it’s easy to forget how awesome it is that we can transmit messages and music through the air. Science is amazing. In that light, let’s take a step back and really appreciate the miracle that is radio by checking out these ten fun radio facts.